


Band Together

by newsicals, Skitttery



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: :O, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Has been compared to early 2000s aus, M/M, Warning: an abundance of band puns, band au, hopefully it means you're interested, look at me breaking the 4th wall and addressing you, puns, so whatever that means, triggers will be in notes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-05-19 06:32:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5957146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newsicals/pseuds/newsicals, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skitttery/pseuds/Skitttery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone's gay and bad at feelings (except for Sarah and Katherine)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Band New Start

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of the fansies were discussing a band au a week or so ago so we thought we'd write it. We're @spreadingthenewsies and @skitttery ! Triggers like self harm and bullying will be in here, but they'll be tagged at the beginning of each chapter. Just say if you want anything to be tagged. (and yes, every title will be a pun) Enjoy :)

The first day of school is always hectic. David always felt nervous the night before, and ended up getting almost next to no sleep.

He’d be up, walking around, fidgeting, and getting hit in the head with a pillow by Les.

Morning would roll around, and a scared, sleep deprived David would play with his cereal while going over everything that could possibly go wrong. Sarah would have to calm him down, assure him that everything was going to be fine, then grab everything David forgot to grab.

This first day of school was especially nerve-wracking. The Jacobs kids were starting at a new school, a week into the first semester. To say David was on edge would be an understatement.

While stepping through the door and walking through the halls of a new school, David was sent into a day long anxiety attack. He was just thankful he had Sarah with him.

David frantically searched through his backpack and his pockets. “Have you seen my schedule? I can’t- oh my god, where did I put my clarinet? Did I leave my planner on the table?” he continued to panic as he barely avoided crashing into people due to his head being buried in his bag.

Sarah sighed and handed David his schedule, that he had handed to her because he was sure he was going to lose it. “Here, Davey. Your clarinet is in your locker, remember? You didn't want to carry it around and your planner is sticking out of your bag.”

With efficient graceful movements Sarah grabbed the planner and handed it to David, after looking at his schedule she unlocked his locker and handed him his clarinet.

David ran a hand through his hair as he sighed, taking all the things Sarah was handing to him. “What would I do without you, Sarah?”

“Thank goodness you'll never have to know,” she smiled fondly.

“I better not,” David teased, turning his attention to his schedule. “Band’s first hour, right? With you?”

“Yup, lucky you. I've heard Denton is a great director, and the band program here is really good,” Sarah liked to look on the positive side of uncontrollable changes, “Plus, it's a fresh start- you can be whoever you want to. These kids don't know you as the clumsy nerdy kid.”

David looked at her with fear in his eyes. “Don’t jinx it!”

Sarah just laughed and turned in the direction of the band room, the opposite direction of which David had been heading in. He hurried to catch up with her.

David was already far too flustered. He knew something was going to go wrong. It was just how things worked with him. There was no such thing as a “fresh start”. He was always going to be awkward little Davey Jacobs. There was no changing that.

The two entered the band room and were met with an instant commotion, surprisingly loud for the small amount of people in the room.

Their senses were filled with boys running about and jumping over chairs. The noise level was quite loud, with random snippets of conversation.

“Hey, give me back my glasses! I actually need them to see.”

“It was the biggest dog you ever-”

“What about my foot?”

“Iron man would kick your ass.”

Several brass instruments could be heard trying to get in tune.

Most of the class was preoccupied with the boy who had his glasses stolen. A tall, light haired boy with a red bandana was tossing a pair of glasses back and forth between him and a shorter, tougher looking guy, and another kid with dark hair.

“Jack, this isn’t funny!” the glasses boy complained.

“Ah, come on, Specs. It’s fun,” the bandana boy, Jack, had said.

David stared at Jack. He noticed how tall and muscular he was. How attractive he…

Sarah elbowed him, hissing at him to not stare. “Don't drool.”

David rolled his eyes, turning red.

“Jack Kelly, you give Specs back his glasses right now or you'll be cleaning up the band room after school!” A red haired girl appeared from one of the practice rooms holding a baton.

It was David’s turn to tell Sarah not to stare. She just glanced at him before returning to her appraisal of the redhead.

“Lighten up, Kath,” Jack grinned, tossing the glasses back to the boy with dark hair.

“Spot,” Specs pleaded. “Please.”

“I’m over here,” the third boy said. “That’s Race. Maybe you should put your glasses on.” He snickered.

“I’m going to _kill_ you.” Specs lunged in the direction of the voice, forgoing his attempt to reclaim his glasses for the nobler cause of killing Spot.

Spot stepped out of the way, causing Specs to land on the floor, making a sound that sounded extremely painful (David decided it was a cross between “CRACK” and “fwomp”).

Race burst into laughter as he tossed the glasses back to Jack. For once, it seemed like David wasn’t going to be the laughing stock. But of course, that feeling couldn’t last too long. The glasses missed Jack entirely and ended up hitting David square in the middle of his forehead. Taken back, David stumbled. He grabbed on to what felt like a railing to support himself.

It wasn’t a railing.

David had grabbed on to the rack of music stands. He ended up knocking them over, falling down with them.

The room went silent. Everyone looked over at Dave, surprised and confused. The room was silent, until Sarah let out a sigh from the doorway.

“So much for a fresh start,” she mumbled. Pasting on a smile she waved. “Hi, I’m Sarah and that’s David. We’re new. Who should we speak to about auditioning for positions?”

No one answered for a moment. They were still stunned.

“Lady, does it look like we can afford to pick and choose who’s in band?” Spot spoke up.

It was true. There was barely anyone in the room.

Jack, ignoring Spot, pointed at “Kath”, “She’s in charge until Denton gets here.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sarah smiled, keeping her cool (which was surprising to her, considering she was talking to a very pretty girl). “I’m so sorry about my brother,” she pointed to David, who was under a pile of scattered stands. He didn’t look like he wanted to get up anytime soon.

Kath laughed. “It’s alright, we’ve done worse. I’m Katherine.”

And in that moment, Sarah knew she was already in too deep. Katherine’s smile was a beacon.

“Welcome to band,” she said, picking up a stand. “We’re uh, kind of small. Budget cuts and all,” she continued picking up. Sarah lightly kicked David to tell him to get off the ground. “What instruments do you play?”

Sarah quickly recovered from her second hand embarrassment (courtesy of Dave) and focused on Katherine (not like that was a problem).

“I play flute and David plays clarinet,” she told Katherine.

Katherine beamed. “Clarinet?” she looked at Dave, who was refusing to get up. “We don’t have a clarinet player.”

Sarah forced David up. “You do now.”

David looked like he was ready to curl up in the corner and slowly fade away. Sarah knew that expression of his all too well. She also knew he was probably cursing him silently, but she could live with that.

“Here,” Katherine picked up the last of the stands and handed Specs his glasses. “This is Specs,” she introduced him. “He plays french horn.”

“Hey,” Specs muttered, putting on his glasses. He made his way back to his seat, clearly not in the social mood.

“He’s not always angry. And we’re not always messing with him,” Jack turned to Sarah and David.

“Yes we are,” Spot said.

Jack ignored him once again. “I’m Jack. Jack Kelly.”

David was silent for an entirely different reason then. Cute Bandana Boy was talking to him.

“Hi Jack,” Sarah saved the day once more. “I’m Sarah and that’s Dave.”

Jack smiled. “Nice to meet ya.”

Jack and Spot both had thick New York accents. David knew it was going to be the death of him.

Katherine lead the two of them around the band room, introducing them to everyone. Jack trailed behind, secretly looking at David. Spot shot a rubber band at him as a way to scold him. Jack just turned and glared back at him.

“That’s Mush. He plays flute, too.”

Mush smiled. Sarah and him instantly struck up conversation. At least she was doing well, David thought.

“Blink is our Baritone. Skittery’s the tuba. Crutchie is piano. Spot is percussion, but sometimes trombone when it’s called for. Race is the trumpet, Jack plays the saxophone, and I conduct,” Katherine informed them. Everyone said a short greeting before turning back to their conversations. Blink and Skittery seemed to be having a heated discussion about superheroes.

Katherine finished her mini tour then returned to the front of the room. David was left standing alone. Jack took his chance. He bounced over to David, sneaking up behind him. He leaned against the wall.

“So, what brings you here?”

David jumped. He turned to see Jack and relaxed a bit. It took him a moment to process the words, but he eventually shrugged. “Dad’s job. He was transferred, so we were, too.”

Jack looked at David while he talked. David didn’t make eye contact (he was clearly nervous and embarrassed), but Jack could still see his eyes. Jack decided then that blue was his favorite color.

Jack began to shamelessly flirt with David, who didn’t pick up on any of it, while Sarah went back over to Katherine.

“Thanks for being so nice,” she said. Katherine looked up and gave her a small smile.

“Don’t thank me,” she told Sarah.

Sarah shrugged and found herself smiling. Katherine’s smile seemed to be contagious. “Well, then I’m sorry again for my brother.”

“It’s really no big deal,” Katherine assured her. “We’ve done worse.”

Sarah didn’t want to know the stories behind that.

“Just wait,” Sarah warned, only partially teasing.

Katherine laughed. “I’m sure he’s fine.”

Say what you will about David, but he had perfect timing. As soon as Katherine had said that, a crash louder than the one from before rang out. It caused everyone to either jump, flinch, or fall over.

Jack had been leaning on the wall. David, who wanted to seem cool and impress Jack, decided to lean on something as well. He accidentally chose the marimba. It fell over, and once again David went with it.

Sarah didn’t even need to look back.

“Like I said, I’m so sorry.”

Katherine’s eyes were wide as she assessed the situation. Jack was helping David up while Race laughed and everyone else settled down. It was going to be one hell of a year.

“Your brother is lethal, Sarah,” she said.

Sarah sighed. “I know.”


	2. Band-tics

David and Sarah quickly adjusted to their change. Everyone welcomed them with open arms. Though most of the kids in band had tough outer shells, they were actually quite nice.

David was feeling more confident after his first week. He had gotten close to Crutchie and Specs. The three of them liked to talk about books, movies, and anything that involved superheroes.

Sarah had gotten close to Katherine and Mush. The three of them were the gentler ones, and liked to talk about things in the news, whether it be a celebrity or catastrophe.

Neither David nor Sarah could deny their growing crushes on some of their new friends. Sarah had fallen for the attractive student conductor, and David was head-over-heels for the outgoing saxophonist.

“Katherine’s so pretty. And smart. And just perfect,” Sarah would say before shoving her face into a pillow.

David would pat her back. He never told her about his crush on Jack. He thought it was pointless, considering how Jack was cool, fun to be around, and, well, everything David wasn’t.

David was reminded of a quote from The Office. It ran through his head whenever he saw Jack. “He’s way out of my league. We’re not even playing the same game. He’s in the NBA, and I’m down the street selling shoes.”

Sarah figured out David had a crush on Jack by their third day, when she caught him staring at Jack while fumbling to get his clarinet out. She also noticed how Jack was almost constantly flirting with David, who never caught on. Sarah didn’t think she could put up with both of them pining for the rest of the year, and probably over the summer, so she didn’t bring it up.

Marching band practices started two weeks after David and Sarah’s first day. To say the first rehearsal didn’t go well would be an understatement.

While the football team and cheerleaders practiced on the field, the band was practicing marching by going around the track while playing.

Jack and Race were having an unspoken contest to see who could play louder, which ended not when one of them won, but when Katherine had the whole band stop playing so she could go back to them and knock their heads together.

When they took a short water break, Jack started playing Talk Dirty To Me. Katherine threw her baton at him, but missed. When Jack started playing Thrift Shop, Spot threw a drumstick at him. Fortunately, he didn’t miss.

Jack tossed the drumstick back, rubbing his head. “Shove it up your ass, Conlon.”

Spot caught it, and replied with, “I’m gonna kink shame that.”

Jack looked like he was about to explode. Before it could go any further, Katherine told them to get back to work. She was annoyed, but unsurprised.

They all lined back up. Skittery wasn’t paying attention to anything around him. He was too busy staring at the cheerleaders. A certain male, hispanic, very attractive cheerleader, to be specific.

Skittery had his eyes on Bumlets since freshman year. They were in the same homeroom. Poor Blink had listened to Skittery whine about his crush for almost four years.

Skittery didn’t notice when they started marching. When Spot bumped into him, the weight of the tuba shifted, and Skittery fell. Of course, he ran into Blink, who fell and knocked over Race, who knocked over David, and so on. Soon, everyone but Katherine was in a heap of limbs and confusion (Race would later go on to call it “musical dominoes”). There was a lot of yelling.

“Watch where you’re going, asshole!”

“Pay more attention, you douche!”

“You dented my sax!”

“Can someone help me get Specs’ head out of the tuba?”

“We have a bigger problem. David’s reed is up his nose.”

“Where’s my mouthpiece?”

“Oh my god, Crutchie, your leg!”

Silence from Crutchie.

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

One of Spot’s sticks had flown off, and managed to hit Katherine’s forehead. It was the first rehearsal and already everyone had gotten injured. They were off to a fantastic start.

“Let’s call it a night,” Katherine sighed, picking up her broken baton. “Put yourselves together and we can regroup tomorrow.”

Everyone groaned, signaling some sort of agreement. Meanwhile, the football team was laughing so hard they could’ve been heard over the band actually playing.

The cheerleaders looked concerned and whispered amongst themselves, but didn’t do much else.

The band kids went to the bleachers and started packing up their things.

“We’ve still done worse,” Jack said to David as the put their instruments in their cases.

David raised an eyebrow. “Do I want to know?”

Jack laughed. “Probably not.”

David cracked a small smile. Jack looked like he was about to say something else, but he was stopped by a football.

“Heads up!”

That was all the warning they had. The ball missed David’s head by only a few inches.

“Watch where you throw things!” Jack yelled at an approaching football player.

“My bad,” he grinned, clearly amused.

Another played who looked just like the first one trotted over.

“Tell your brother to watch where he throws shit, Oscar,” Jack said to the second one, Oscar. “But it’s not his fault. He doesn’t know how to throw straight. He probably doesn’t know what ‘straight’ is.”

Oscar’s brother glared at Jack while Oscar glanced at David, who was watching the scene with fascination and mild concern.

“Who’s this, Kelly?” Oscar raised an eyebrow, smirking a little. “Your boyfriend?”

David could feel his face getting hot.

“No,” Jack said, a bit too quickly. David tried then to hide his disappointment. It didn’t work.

“Aw, you hurt his feelings,” the brother taunted. David could feel his face burning. He wanted to disappear.

“Can it, Morris,” Jack snapped. “Just leave us alone.”

Jack grabbed David’s arm and pulled him away. David straightened his stuff out before picking up his pace to walk next to Jack, who didn’t seem happy.

“Friends of yours?” David asked, though he knew the answer.

Jack scoffed. “Hardly. Morris and Oscar. They’re just some jerks on the football team. Gave me a real hard time freshman year.”

David nodded. He understood that.

“They know I’m gay and like to pick on me for it,” Jack shrugged it off.

David sucked in a breath. Jack was gay. Maybe there was a chance after all.

Jack looked at him, nervous. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not,” David answered instantly.

Jack smiled.

“There’s not a single straight person in this band,” David added.

Jack laughed. “That’s what I like to hear.”

He slung his arm around David (in a totally platonic way, David told himself) and they walked to the parking lot.


	3. Band-ter

The next week, Skittery and Jack were found talking about (pining over) their respective crushes. They were supposed to be practicing for the next football game, but decided  _ gossiping _ in the corner was a better use of their time.  

“Okay, so Dave’s got blue eyes, and they're great and all, but no one’s hair can compare to Bumlets’. It's so luscious and shiny.”

“Yeah,” Jack agreed. “But David’s adorable curly hair.”

Both Jack and Skittery were lucky David and Bumlets weren’t in the room. Neither one of them had the guts to ask out their crush, causing much agony for the others in the room.

“Yeah, Dave is adorable, but-”

“I’m telling Davey that you two are saying this.”

“Can it, Sarah-”

“What about when Bumlets is old and bald? What’ll he have then?” Jack ignored Sarah

“His beautiful personality. And don't even joke about such a thing,”  Skittery said, defending his crush against such a slander was more important Sarah’s threat. 

“Ladies, please,” Race interrupted their conversation. 

“Shut up,” Jack and Skittery said at the same time.

“You’re as bad as us,” Skittery muttered.

“Yeah,” Race agreed. “But no one is worse than Mush.”

“I heard that!” 

Mush crossed his arms and made a pouty face at them. Race snorted in amusement. 

“Hey, Mushy, settle this for us,” Jack turned to him. “Who’s the cutest?”

“You're a sap Mush, don’t deny it. Who do you think is cuter? David or Bumlets?” Skittery pressed.

“Uh,” Mush thought. He snuck a glance at Blink out of the corner of his eye and felt himself turn a light shade of pink.

Blink, who was tuned out to the whole thing, noticed Mush’s glance. “What’s this about?” he asked.

“I- Uh. Crushes,” Mush settled on. “Jack and Skittery’s.”

Blink looked at the two hopeless romantics. “Seriously? You’re acting like girls. Just ask them out.”

“Excuse me?” Sarah raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, you’re acting like morons,” Blink corrected himself.

“They’re not acting,” Race said, under his breath. 

Jack sighed, being the drama queen he was. “No way I could just ask him out. Besides, he's not even here.”

“Here's your chance,” Race said. The group turned. David had entered the room and was rifling around in his backpack, no doubt for some misplaced papers or book. The group then turned to stare at Jack. He managed to resist the combined stares for a couple seconds before sighing and standing up.

It really is all in the timing, because at that exact second, a chair was heard scraping across the floor and was seen flying to the other side of the room. Before anyone could react to that, a shelf in the percussion section fell from the wall, letting out the loudest crash heard that month.

Spot had been reaching for a cymbal on the top of the shelf, but due to his size and height, he couldn’t reach. He stood on a chair and ended up slipping. He grabbed onto the shelf to catch himself, but just brought it down with him.

A few people screamed, while a few others flinched. All eyes were then on Spot, who was buried under music books and small, hand held percussion instruments.

The noise settled, and the room was quiet. Spot could be heard groaning from where he was buried.

“Well,” Jack said, being the first to speak. “It’s a sign. Not gonna go through with it. The universe is clearly against it.”

David, who was shocked and startled, just looked curiously at Jack.

“Wimp,” Spot’s muffled voice was heard.

“Shut up,” Jack told him. “I’m not helping you out.”

Spot crawled out from under the shelf and books.

“Are you okay?” Race asked, concerned yet amused.

“Peachy,” Spot replied in a flat tone.

Katherine, who had been freaking out up until that moment, went over and examined Spot, making sure nothing (including his brain) was broken. After being assured all was well, she ordered everyone to start cleaning the mess.

Jack and Bink rehung the shelf, while Skittery and Mush put everything back on it. Race double checked Spot, who was close to decking him, while Crutchie insisted on helping and ended up sweeping, and Specs put the chair back. Sarah made sure everyone else was okay, and Katherine explained the situation to a frantic Denton, who ran in with his eyes bugging. 

Closely behind Denton were two fuming boys.

“Henry, Albert,” Jack greeted, nodding at the both of them. “Always nice to see you.”

“What the hell was that noise?” Henry demanded, more scared than angry. “The whole school could hear you!”

Spot looked at him and blinked. “The shelf fell five minutes ago. One of us could be dead by now.”

Albert shrugged. “We’d be okay with that.”

“Chorus kids,” Race muttered.

“Go back to class,” Denton gently told Henry and Albert. The two looked at each other, exchanging a small grin before nodding and leaving.

“Is everyone alright?” Denton asked, checking one last time to be sure.

Everyone said they were and took their seats.

“For once, it wasn’t you, Dave,” Race said, leaning forward to talk.

“I haven’t knocked over something since my first day!” David protested.

Race simply pat his shoulder and sat back.


	4. A Ba(n)d Day

The next football game was quickly upon them. The school was buzzing with excitement. Half the band room was just as excited, while some of the more sensible members were a tad nervous. While rehearsals were getting better, the band was still a hot mess (Or, “A cold mess,” as Spot said, “none of you are hot.”). Denton, in hopes to help get the group’s act together, had scheduled more after school practices and was praying that they would pay off.

The cheerleaders were stretching on the track and the football team was still in their locker room. Most of the band was still in the band room, but David, who needed fresh air and a break from the “Who Can Play the Loudest” game, was behind the bleachers. He had his clarinet tucked under one of his arms, and was holding a book in one hand. He needed a moment to relax before he was out in front of hundreds of people.

“Well, well, well, lookie here Morris. It's the klutz,” an obnoxious voice said from a few feet away. David didn’t have to look up to know it was Oscar.

“ Amazing, ain't it? He can stand,” Morris remarked.

David clutched the book tighter, trying to ignore their taunts. He knew how this worked. If he ignored them, they’d eventually give up.

“‘Lord of the Rings’?” Oscar read the title. “But I thought you were lord of the rats.”

David could feel his throat getting dry and his heart start to beat faster. He wanted them to just go away. He thought he had gotten away from this after he moved schools. But these Cowboy football players were just like the players from his old school.

“Aww is wittle Davey mad?”

David, going against all the voices in his head, swallowed and decided to respond. “Actually, I was thinking that it's rather amazing you can read the title of the book,” David retorted, instantly regretting it.

The Delancys exchanged a look. They decided David’s joke was so funny that it deserved a physical response.

“You better run.”

David did.

 

\---------------------

 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the bleachers, a figure perched on the top row, conspicuously spying on the cheerleaders. Okay one cheerleader in particular, but Skittery couldn't be blamed for not noticing the other cheerers. For one, most of the squad was female, but even if they were male no one else could come close to _comparing_ to that muscular, flowing haired, Hispanic, beautiful eyed, great as-

“Boo!”

Skittery jumped. “Ah- wha- Race, what the fuck?” He glared at the boy, getting up from his hiding space.

“Man, you are in so deep” Race snickered, sitting down beside him (both unaware of the peril David was going through below).

“I am no-I-not,” Skittery trailed off transfixed by Bumlets doing a –perfect– roundoff back handspring.

“You need to just ask him out and put me out of the misery of watching you,” said Race waving his hand in front of Skittery’s face to regain his attention.

“Hey!”

The boys turned. Sarah was standing at the bottom of the bleachers waving up at them.

“The game’s about to start! We have go line up.”

The two hurried down the steps and rushed to follow Sarah to the band room. They ran into a disheveled David who was panting heavily, both hands on his hips.

“What happened to you?” Race asked, looking weirded out.

David was about to respond when Katherine poked her head out.

“Come on, everyone. We need to go!”

The four shook off anything that had happened to them and went to line up.

 

\---------------------

 

As terrible as the first rehearsal went, all the others paid off.

The band’s songs went off without a hitch, the cheerleaders successfully pulled off a pyramid during their routine, and the game ended with the Cowboys winning.

After playing the football team off, the band members started packing up their instruments. Jack headed over to where David was hurriedly packing up.

Jack had noticed how tense David was the entire game. He’d been impatiently waiting for the game to end so he could ask David what was going on.

“Hey Dave, you okay? I was looking for you before the game. Where'd you go?”

David looked hesitant to answer, even a little upset at the question. But he shrugged it off. “Needed some fresh air.”

Jack frowned, not buying a single word. But he didn’t want to push.

“Okay,” Jack said. “Just let me know if you need anything, alright?”

David nodded. “Thanks. See you later.”

Without another word, David hurried off, leaving Jack alone and concerned.


	5. Saxo-fun

Though two weeks passed, nothing had changed. Jack and Skittery were still whining about their feelings, Race was still teasing them, Morris and Oscar were still bullying David, Spot was still an asshole, and Katherine and Sarah were still the only ones keeping things from crashing and burning. Well, they couldn’t do anything to stop the crashing (courtesy of David), but they hadn’t started any fires. Yet.

And while the band and chorus kids still hated each other, Race had managed to royally piss off Albert and Henry. After David had knocked over the drumset (angering Spot beyond words), Albert had knocked on the wall and told them to keep it down. Race had yelled back, telling them to stop the “obnoxious squeaking they called ‘singing’”. Later that day, valve oil was all over the chairs in the trumpet section. A war was started.

Race (with the help of Spot) replaced all their sheet music with Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley, put a faulty metronome in the air ducts, messed with the risers so they were uneven, and even went as far as to untune their piano.

Henry and Albert filled the tubas with skittles (Skittery was more upset with the pun than he was the actual prank), unscrewed a few bolts on a select number of music stands so they’d have to go through and check every single one (Skittery managed to get every stand that had been messed with), and coated the floor with cork grease (everyone was victim of that one). Their next move was yet to be determined.

One particular morning, the band room was buzzing with chatter. People were warming up, exchanging playful banter, and talking about the evening’s football game. Crutchie hobbled in, a little late.

“Your leg’s not looking too good, Crutch,” Jack observed.

Crutchie shrugged. “Just one of those days. It’s a little more limp than usual. No big deal.”

Jack nodded as Crutchie made his way to the keyboard. Skittery, a little on edge thanks to Albert and Henry, was getting his tuba out of his case.

“I still can’t believe how big that thing is,” Race commented. “Isn’t it a little much?”

“Now, now,” Jack said. “Don’t be jealous.”

Skittery had to stifle a laugh. Spot made no effort to.

“Yeah,” Spot looked at the tuba, looking to be in thought. “Big…” he glanced at Crutchie. “Hey, Crutch, you said you're leg’s a little more limp today?”

“Yeah,” Crutchie answered, confused.

“I’ll give you five bucks if you can get it in the tuba.”

“Deal.”

Crutchie walked over, sat on the floor, and began to work his leg into the tuba.

“I didn’t okay this,” Skittery said, glaring at Spot.

“I didn’t care,” Spot responded. Skittery rolled his eyes.

David and Sarah then walked in, late as usual. David looked at the scene, and simply walked back out.

“Leaving so bassoon?” Blink asked, smirking.

The room went silent. Seven pairs of eyes burned into Blink’s skull.

“Yeah, okay,” Jack picked Blink up, slung him over his shoulder, and shoved him into the storage closet, locking the door.

Blink yelled and kicked the door, but no one wanted to let him out. Even Mush knew he deserved it.

Crutchie went back to getting his leg in the tuba, and David walked back in with Katherine.

“What the hell is going on?” Katherine demanded, clearly shocked and confused.

“Spot’s about to owe me five dollars,” Crutchie answered.

Katherine had no response to that. She simply sputtered while everything continued.

Crutchie managed to get his leg all the way in. He smiled proudly and looked at Spot. “Pay up.”

Spot, surprisingly, happily obliged. He seemed amused with the whole situation. Jack took a picture of Crutchie, who gave a thumbs up.

“Alright,” Skittery said. “You’ve had your fun. Now get the fuck out of my tuba. … I never thought I’d have to say those words.”

Crutchie started to pull his leg out, but it wouldn’t budge. “Uh oh.”

“What?” Race questioned.

“I’m stuck.”

Katherine let out a sigh. “I’ll get someone.”

“Who the fuck are you going to get for this?” Spot asked. “The police? Fire department? A doctor? Scientist?”

“Denton,” Katherine said before leaving.

Skittery, being just as irritated as Katherine, went out into the hall to get a drink. He bent down at the water fountain and pushed the button. He was met with an aggressive spray to the face.

Skittery cursed. The plumbing must’ve been acting up again. Something was always wrong with the building (thank you, government funding).

He went to the vending machine down the hall. When he put in his dollar and pushed a button, no soda came out. Instead, a water balloon dropped, spraying him once again.

Skittery blinked, dazed. It really wasn’t his day.

Upon hearing the noise, Henry ran out into the hall. He saw Skittery and frowned.

“Damn,” he said. “That was meant for Race.”

Race, who had also heard the noise, walked over. “Come on, Henry. Hasn’t Skittery suffered enough?”

Henry pointed at them. “This isn’t over,” he said while walking backwards into the chorus room.

“Thanks for taking one for the team,” Race said to Skittery. Skittery slapped Race upside the head before returning to the band room.

Crutchie (with the help of cork grease and valve oil), had managed to get his leg out. Mush had finally let Blink out of the closet; the world was seemingly normal.

It was then Katherine walked back in with Denton, the school nurse, and a student resource officer.

Denton, observing the calm room, raised an eyebrow. “I thought you said-”

“I swear, his leg was in…” Katherine trailed off, staring at everyone.

“Okay, well,” Denton turned to the nurse and officer with him. “Sorry for the trouble.”

Katherine just sputtered and squawked as they left, swearing that what she said was the truth. No one else in the room said anything, but a few mischievous glances were exchanged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to newsiesandhistory on tumblr for the bassoon pun. Fun plot stuff coming soon ;)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now with more detail and dialogue and background and I can do what I want

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da it's later! I've reuploaded this chapter and I'm working on the next one. R is still slammed with work, but my Spring Break is a round the corner. Hope you guys enjoy this (new) chapter  
> -Skits

With homecoming right around the corner, Saturday practices became mandatory for cheerleading and band. These practices started at 9 o’clock in the morning, because Denton had no regard for the sleeping cycle of the average teenager. The band members, all except Mush, were average teenagers who slept past 11am and made their dislike for these practices known.

"Come on guys! Morning practices aren't that bad, in fact I think they're great! The sun is shining and if you get up a couple hours early you can see the sun rise and-"

"Look Mush," Race said cutting him off, "I like to think I'm a pretty cheerful guy," cue eye rolls and noises of disbelieve from everyone, "and even if you assholes don't think I am, Crutchie most definitely is. And Mush no one, not my cheerful self or Crutchie's overly-cheerful self, is or should be happy to be awake on the weekend before nine." All the guys, Blink included, were on Race's side and started talking about the worst parts of the morning practices. With all the complaining and bitching and moaning the boys made, Katherine was wondering why Denton even bothered with Saturday practices. He continued to insist on them despite her voicing her concerns and the boys grumbling theirs.

"Katherine, have you finished taking role?" Denton asked, ignoring the angry mob that was forming.

"Yes. Skittery texted to say he'd be late again. Everyone else is here except for the Jacobs," Katherine said with a frown. She hoped Sar-they would show up soon. Luckily Aphrodite heard her prayer and soon Sarah and David were seen hurrying toward the group with a little person trailing behind them. Skittery too appeared with a smaller little person.

You see, another staple of the weekend –other than teenagers sleeping in– is the lack of school. But unfortunately it does not mean a lack of work for all adults. As the elementary school is also closed on the weekends, sometimes younger siblings must be looked after by their older ones. So David and Skittery had to drag their brothers, Les and Tumbler, to practice with them. It was rare for Skittery not to be watching Tumbler so his late arrival wasn't out of place, but it was the first time the ever punctual Jacobs were late. Les was unlike his older siblings and didn't have a musical bone in his body, and Tumbler had no desire to be in band after hearing his brother complain about it day after day. Consequently the boys were quickly bored by the bands repetitious tunes, and preferred to watch the cheerleaders. The band guys were getting a little bored (read frustrated, annoyed, done) themselves, so Denton called for a break.

The boys dispersed seeking shade, but David had to go check on Les (read he lost rock-paper-scissors with Sarah) and Jack being the standup guy he is went with.

"So what's with the kid?" Jack asked slinging his arm around David.

David looked at Jack and was trying to decide if the arm was a flirting thing or a Jack thing. He decided it was a Jack thing, the idea of Jack flirting with him was just wishful thinking.  
"He's our brother. Our mom is visiting our grandma today and dad works weekends."

“What's your name little man?” Jack knelt in front of Les, who was watching Bumlets do a cartwheel.

“I’m Les,” he beamed.

“Sarah and I got stuck with him for the day,” David said continuing his explanation. Les pouted at his brother’s choice of words. Jack couldn’t help but smile. Les went on to explain how he was nine and three-quarters

“He's my new best friend!” Tumbler said, running up to tug on Jack's sleeve. Tumbler had come to every single Saturday practice with Skittery every single week. The first practice had all the girls cooing over him and the boys enjoying the adoration of an eight year old toward “the way cool older guys”. After weeks of practice, he was glad to finally have someone his age to play with. However he wasn't willing to give up everyone’s attention.

“Hey Jack, can you do that?” Tumbler asked, pointing at a cheerleader doing a flip. “I wanna do that.”

Jack grinned. “Of course I can. Want me to teach you?”

Before Tumbler could answer, all the band kids simultaneously yelled “NO!”

Bumlets, who was nearby getting a drink, had heard. He looked up with the sunlight silhouetting this gorgeous frame. “I could teach you,” he offered.Everyone looked over. Skittery swore his heart stopped for a few seconds. “I mean if it's okay with your brother.” Bumlets said, smiling at Skittery. Luckily, before Skittery had the chance to make a fool of himself, Tumbler started jumping up and down begging his brother to let him.

“Alright, alright,” Skittery put his hands on Tumbler’s shoulders to hold him still. “Just be careful, okay?”

“Okay!” He chirped. Tumbler and Bumlets (and Les, to David’s chagrin) headed over to the matts to safely work on the move.

“Well how about we start with something a little safer first like…”

Skittery caught himself staring at Bumlets, but not before Blink did. He elbowed Skittery and made a kissy face. It took everything Skittery had in him to not punch Blink in that face.

“You’re in too deep, dude,” Blink said.

“Shut up asshole,” Skittery groaned. “You’re one to talk. What about Mush?”The boy was watching the kids and Bumlet with rapt attention. He looked up when Blink looked over, and he smiled.Blink stuttered, but before he could come up with a comeback the cheerleaders started cheering.

“2-4-6-8, will you be her date? 8-6-4-2, Sarah is asking you, To homecoming! To homecoming! Toooo homecoming!!!”  
Sarah was standing in front of Katherine with a bouquet of flowers while the cheerleaders had made a pyramid behind her and were holding up a sign that said “Homecoming?” Katherine nodded and pulled Sarah into a hug with a laugh.

The boys all stole glances at their crushes.

"Let's face it,” Blink said. “We’ve all got it bad.”

Skittery didn't say anything, just stared at Bumlets and his laughing younger brother.


	7. Chapter 7: Love Treble (aka So Sorry About the Accidental Hiatus)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys how've you been? It's been a while huh, but at least it hasn't been a year. ;)  
> I am publishing this because of all the awesome people that kept leaving kudos and making me feel guilty :*  
> -Skitttery  
> tbh i have forgotten all planned plot points and which characters are in this thing, but please accept my humble offering.

After Katherine and Sarah’s homecoming decision, the boys knew they had to woman up and ask each other out. Katherine and Sarah were usually a step ahead of the boys, but this time it seemed like the boys were three steps behind them and walking backwards.

This included Mush and Blink, who were already practically married, but just hadn't given their relationship a title or called anything they did a “date”. Blink was sweating bullets at the thought of asking Mush out, never mind how. Race tried to give him advice (although, considering his current romantic situation, he was really in no place to), saying, “Look, you just have to go for it. If you blink, you’ll miss your chance.”

And thus, Race spent the rest of the day locked in the supply closet. Blink, after wisely ignoring the advice of Jack and Specs, decided that just asking Mush in private would be enough.

Mush, however, had different plans. He had made the wise decision to seek love advice from the only confirmed homecoming couple. Katherine of course advised him the bigger the better. With Mush, things could never be too big (wink). So, to win over Blink and score a date for homecoming, he pulled a few strings.

One morning while the announcements were being broadcasted, music started playing. Thanks to the kids in student council, Mush was able to say what he wanted for the whole school to hear. Fortunately, he got some of the chorus kids to help him out, instead of singing the song himself (as much the band kids were talented musicians, very few of them could sing).

Blink was in his algebra class (aka, he was failing at staying awake in algebra) when the beginnings of singing shocked him out of his sleep. “Boy, you got me helpless Look into your eyes and the sky’s the limit I’m helpless Down for the count and I’m drownin’ in ‘em.” Albert and Henry (who were helping Mush even though he was a band kid, he was the only band kid that had never pissed them off) could be heard singing over the speakers. I

nstead of singing the verse, they hummed the backing music as the chorus director, Ms. Medda, read Mush’s message: “Louis Ballat. I hope Albert and Henry sound good. They reason they're singing is Jack and the guys threatened Mush with death by silly string if he sang- Honestly boys!”

“Medda!”

“Sorry honey. -again. So anyway the reason that they're singing, not the reason that they're singing and he's not but why there's singing at all, is he wants to ask you to homecoming. Kid Blink will you be Mush’s date to homecoming?”

“Helpless…” The door to the algebra classroom opened, and Mush was standing there with a bouquet of flowers. Kid Blink didn't hesitate and tackled his date. The two fell onto the floor in a pile of blush. “So?” Mush asked. “You idiot, I was gonna ask you,” Blink complained with a smile. Mush laughed. “You snooze, you lose Kid.”

\-----------------hey remember line breaks? Lets bring back line breaks----------------- 

Jack groaned. Mush’s song had been broadcasted throughout the school and now it was all anyone was talking about at lunch. If he had to hear one more time what a “thoughtful way to ask someone out Mushie!” or that “Louis is soooo lucky” or “I wish my boyfriend would ask me out like that” he was gonna scream.

Spot, who was glowering at everyone in the cafeteria, seemed to share the sentiment. “What’s bugging you Spot?” Jack asked, wanting a break from the crowd of Blush admirers who were flocking their usual lunch table.

“I was just going to show up at Race’s house the night of homecoming, but thanks to Sarah and Mush I’m gonna have to put some effort into this thing. What about you? What’re you gonna do?”

“Uh well I mean David and I aren’t….” Jack said.

“So man up and ask him already.” Spot scoffed.

“Well unlike a certain someone, I was planning on doing so today. He wasn’t in any of his classes this morning though.” Jack defended.

“What‘s that supposed to mean?”

The two soon engaged in a food fight that made them forget their love troubles. Skittery, was passing by the table, dodged a handful of macaroni and keep walking looking more skittish than usual. Bumlets had invited him and Tumbler over to his house today and Skittery know he had to make a move then. No way was he going to be the last one to ask out their crush, especially if it meant he would beat Jack and maybe Spot to the punch.


	8. AN: (Almost) 1 year later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow I haven't written anything for a year ^^'

Hiya folks!

So this occasionally gets kudos/comments that sporadically appear in my inbox, and I think to myself "hey it's that fic you're writing".

Somehow an entire year passed in this manner. To be completely honest I've forgotten the plot we originally had planned and was rereading the story just now with the familiarity of a stranger.

Would anyone like for me to continue this work? Let me know what you think. 

\- Skitttery


End file.
